France wins tough test against Brazil before World Cup

The captain of the Équipe Tricolore was in the spotlight after recently controversial reports about an alleged misdiagnosis, but rejected them: “The information that the wrong knee was examined is not true.”

Despite being outnumbered after a red card against Dayot Upamecano (55th minute) from FC Bayern Munich, France extended their lead with a goal from Hugo Ekitiké in the second half and extended the lead over time. Brazil scored late through Bremer.

Brazil without Neymar – and weakened

The weakened Brazilians competed without the superstar Neymar, who was not nominated. National coach Carlo Ancelotti did not name the still most expensive player in the world in his squad for the international matches against France and Croatia (March 31) due to a lack of fitness. The two games are the Seleção’s final meetings before the World Cup squad is announced for the summer tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. This means that a possible final World Cup participation for the 34-year-old, who has not played an international match for two and a half years, remains questionable.

In addition to Neymar, the record world champions were also missing several injured regulars, including Alisson, Marquinhos and Éder Militão.